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Weather Eye: finding Nessie

Many sightings of the Loch Ness monster could be explained by seismic activity beneath the loch

Paul Simons

October 18 2012, 1:01am, The Times

This month commemorates the anniversary of one of the biggest searches for the Loch Ness monster. Twenty-five years ago, Operation Deepscan used 24 boats to sweep the loch with sonar for signs of a monster. The project cost £1 million but the results were inconclusive.

An explanation for a monster is suggested from a fascinating report in March 1761. “About two in the afternoon Loch Ness rose on a sudden about two feet in perpendicular height, and continued, alternately, rising and falling, for the space of three quarters of an hour,” described a correspondent to The London Chronicle. “In the middle of the loch, the water swelled up like a mountain, and during the whole time appeared extremely muddy and dirty. What makes it still…

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